Causes of Poverty and Vagrancy

Between 1450 and 1700, attitudes toward the European poor changed dynamically, roughly following a three-part cycle. In the late 1400's, the poor were regarded with sympathy and compassion; generous aid from both public and religious institutions was common. By the 16th Century, however, the poor were treated with suspicion and harsh measures, to ensure that they were not becoming lazy, using welfare as a substitute for labor. Beginning in the 17th Century, the attitudes toward the poor again shifted, returning to more sympathetic views and responses, though many members of the upper-class still retained the negative outlook on the destitute of the 16th Century.

The Great Depression first started as early as 1928, but did not affect the United States until 1929. The Great Stock Market crash started the event of the Depression here in America, but was not the main cause to why it happened. During the early stages of the depression, President Hoover failed to help the economy and continued with his belief system of giving people the least help they needed, so they can earn themselves a rightful spot with pride, not with government’s help. The Great Depression was a very intense experience for us, even until today, the

Poverty has been a big issue over the past century or so and continues to be a problem to this day in the United States. Due to the Civil War, rural areas and industrial areas were affected by poverty. The poverty of rural sharecroppers in 1877 was different from the poverty of unemployed industrial workers in 1939. Even though both situations were dealing with a form of poverty, both were two completely different situations. There were several major events that happened that caused poverty of rural sharecroppers in 1877. Although there were various events leading up to the poverty of unemployed industrial workers in 1939, poverty in the year of 1877 was just as bad, if not worse, as in the year of 1939.

The Great Depression originated in the United States with the stock market crash on October 29, 1929. The depression was the biggest economic fall in American’s history. This crash stretched throughout the globe and affected the rich as well as the poor. There were many causes that assisted in bringing the depression into existence. However one of the main causes was the disproportionate riches during the nineteen-twenties. The gap between the rich and the working class people was the enlarged industrialize production during this period. Also in this period production cost fell quickly, wages rose slowly and prices remained steady.

The Great Depression was a period of economic turmoil in the United States that lasted from 1929 until the end of World War II. The Great Depression reflected the economic crisis of the Stock Market’s sudden crash despite America’s economic steadiness for nearly a decade during the Roaring Twenties. Two long term causes of the Great Depression were the poor management and infrastructure of the banks and the overall production of agriculture. Farms prior to the Great Depression over produced during World War I in order to feed European nations, armies, and that overall process costed money. Corn and wheat were popular at the time for mass production which led to an increase of farmers taking out loans in order to expand the land. As more crops

The Great Depression remains to be the worst economic slump ever in American history and one which spread practically all over the industrialized world. The Depression bombarded in late 1929 and lasted nearly a decade. Many factors elemented the depth of the widespread prosperity. However, combined, the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade remain the key of all elements.

Depression forced the farmers to grow more and more crops. The effect that this had on the

The event that debatably started the depression was the banking crisis. One day a man wanted to withdraw some money from his bank. When they told him that they lost all his money giving out loans, and investing in the stock market (Which had crashed), he spread the word. People panicked and tried to take their money out of the banks as soon as possible. This caused many banks to close. To solve this problem the Emergency Banking Relief Act was created. (Sources E, F, and G) What this did was close all banks for 4 days. (Sources E, F, and G) Within those 4 days there would be inspections on all of the banks. (Sources E, F, and G) Only the banks that passed the inspections and had enough money to give out loans could reopen. (Sources E, F, and G) Banks help the economy. They do this by giving out loans that people use to buy products. The businesses hire workers, and those people buy more products. This is what started the upward economic cycle that jobs create.

The Great depression began in 1929 with a dramatic event called that Wall Street Crash. This led to the failure of banks and businesses all over the United States. Millions of people lost all their savings and their jobs, and thousands became homeless because they could not afford to pay their rent. Some homeless families lived in shacks made of cardboard. Others took the road to look for work. (Bingham J.) As it could be imagined it was very disheartening to many as losing everything that was worked hard for. Many events took place during this time, like the Stock Market Crash, The Dust Bowl, The New Deal and also Prohibition that changed the outcome of what people could and couldn’t do.

During the Elizabethan England era there was an outburst of poverty. Others may say that the poverty was not an issue, but they are mistaken.The poverty created a big issue for the poor because they looked down upon them and didn’t try to help then so more and more people were becoming broke. “Poverty became a widespread problem during the Elizabethan era, so much so that Parliament was forced to enact laws aimed at dealing with the country’s poor on a number of occasions. Initially, these laws took a harsh view of the poor and even went so far as to criminalize begging and institute severe punishments for those who were caught in the act.”(Elizabethan Class System.) This shows that so many people were in debut or below the poverty line that they needed to enforce a law. It was such a bad life that people who need to get money by begging the act in force it as a crime.

The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1940 and had a deep and lasting impact on the lives of those who lived through it. Even after prosperity returned, those who lived trough the crisis never forgot the worries and struggles. To this day historian and economists disagree on the exact causes of Great Depression. However agricultural problems, the collapse of the bank, easy credit, businesses closing down and unemployment rising all played a big role during the Great

At this time there was a growing population of ill, disabled, elderly, orphans, and widows with young children (Stern & Axinn, 2012, p.18). The economic need had risen after the wars and diseases such as small pox, measles, and yellow fever (Stern & Axinn, 2012, p.18). As the growing poor population began to steal resources to survive, the poor laws were put in place to stop these people from taking from others but also to establish a system of help. Although help was being implemented the old views of destitute began to change during the colonial period, these individuals were no longer being viewed as being born into unfortunate circumstances. Society was shifting their view from a mutual obligation society to a society that valued individual responsibility and individual salvation (Stern & Axinn, 2012, p.19). When the poor laws were adopted in American colonies it was specifically looking to ensure that colonist who were in need due to unfortunate events that occurred, would be able to receive cash relief. The poor laws were specifically trying to establish control over these individuals but also wanted to continue to follow old traditions of helping the poor (Stern & Axinn, 2012,

The Great Depression, beginning in 1929, was a time when the world’s economy rapidly collapsed and majorly affected several continents. This ‘depression’ lasted until around 1941, and throughout that time, most people were focused on North America, mainly the United States, but other continents, such Latin America, also witnessed this great tragedy.

The Great Depression is a defining moment in time for not only American, but world history. This was a time that caused political, economical, and social unrest. Not only did the Great Depression cause a world wide panic, it also caused a world wide crisis unlike any before it. This paper will analyze both the causes and the effects of the Great Depression in the United States of America.

“The reasons poverty rates remain high despite the [economic] recovery has to do with wage decline and failure of the “safety net” i.e, the government systems of taxes and transfers designed